Sisterhood
by Kitsune Moonstar
Summary: There's nothing like sisterhood.


Author's note: I do not own CSI:NY or its characters. This is set after Snow Day.

* * *

**Sisterhood**

Girls' nights were infrequently planned and actually occurred even less frequently. It was seldom that the three of them all had the same night off, and half the time when they did at least one of them got called in. However, Mac had banned all three of them from the lab for the next forty-eight hours, and they planned to use all of it.

The case really hadn't been that big a deal. It had been a fairly ordinary: a young man has been beaten to death. It looked like a regular mugging. Stella was interviewing some of the people in the apartment building by the alley while Lindsay was working the scene. Peyton had been there to pronounce and take the body, but when she had gone to bag the man, Peyton had stumbled across what could be key evidence and called Lindsay over. Before either of them had realized there was a problem, two of the men watching the scene had jumped the crime scene tape and were on them. Of course, neither of the two men had expected Lindsay or Peyton to fight back.

It had taken less than five minutes for their attackers to be pulled off them and cuffed. Both Peyton and Lindsay were fine, just minor bruises: a black eye for Peyton and bruises around Lindsay's neck. Of course, neither Mac nor Danny had seen things that way. Then one of the suspects had reacted rather violently in interrogation, slamming the table away from him and knocking the wind out of Stella. She was currently sporting a purple bruise across ribs. That had been the last straw for Mac.

They were summarily banned from the lab, over all three's protests. Then they had started planning. The first priority was sleep; it had been nearly a twenty-four hour shift for all three of them. But once they were rested, Stella had suggested that shopping, movies, and comfort food. Peyton and Lindsay agreed, and the plan was set.

The three of them met the next morning at a little café for breakfast and to compare shopping lists.

"So thanks to Hawkes I need a new pair of sneakers," Stella said, picking at her eggs. "And I've been looking for something to go with that skirt I found a few months ago."

"The green one?" Lindsay asked. "My folks are actually coming to New York in a month or so, and I need something to wear when Danny and I take them out to dinner. We're not going any place fancy, but this is the first time they've visited me here, and the only other time they've met Danny was when he flew to Montana for the trial, and neither of us were really at our best, so…"

"Breath, Lindsay." Stella laughed. "Peyton? Looking for anything in particular?"

"Not really, but it would be nice to find something to wear for my birthday. Mac has been rather mysterious about what he's planning."

"So we're looking for casual dress. Good, that narrows it down some."

Stella took change of the shopping expedition, quickly laying out a plan of which shops to hit. Four hours later, Peyton's feet hurt, and Stella and Lindsay were hungry. Lunch was clearly in order. Once they had managed to fit both themselves and their bags into a booth and ordered, the conversation turned to movies, specifically what movies to watch that evening.

"I'm in the mood for explosions. Lots of explosions." Peyton smiled. "I just need to see something go up in flames."

Lindsay laughed. "That's fine by me as long as there is some comedy. I could really use a good comedy. I definitely don't want to watch anything serious right now."

"Throw in some romance and I think we're set. Sounds like _Sahara_, _The Italian Job_, and _Twister_ are in order." Stella smiled

"Add _The Princess Bride_ and _The Wedding Date_ to the list, and I think we're in business." Peyton stretched, snatching Lindsay's last fry from her plate.

"So the real question becomes do we want Ben and Jerry's or Hagen Daaz?"

"That depends," Stella grinned, "on what exactly we want from our ice cream."

They ended up five pints of ice cream being liberally shared round the couch as Dirk Pitt attempted to explain he didn't speak English.

"This is probably my favorite scene. Poor Admiral Sandecker, we all know he'll never see his boat again." Peyton grinned. "What I want to know is just what happened in Panama? Pass the Vermonty Python please."

A knock on Stella's door interrupted them. Stella groaned, "I'll get it."

Since they were already in her building, it could only be one of a few people, but Stella checked the peephole anyway. She opened the door and raised an eyebrow. "And you're here because?"

Flack shrugged. "I got elected to bring the peace offering? Mac and Danny kind thought you wouldn't really want to see them."

"You come bearing gifts?"

"Tell him if it's not chocolate, we're not interested!" Peyton called.

Flack grinned and held up a giant bag of M&M's. "This is just Danny's contribution. I have more."

Stella decided the M&M's were enough to get him inside the apartment. They could always kick him out later. "Come in and bring the chocolate."

Flack carefully edged into the apartment, wary as if something was going to jump out and attack him. He pulled out a box of chocolates from his jacket. "These are from Mac."

Stella took the box. Twenty-four chocolate truffles of various types from Moonstruck Chocolates, Mac knew his chocolate bribes. She passed the box to Peyton and flopped back on the couch.

"So, did you bring us anything else?"

"What? M&M's and truffles aren't enough for you?"

Stella grinned. "Come on, Flack, you know me better than that. You have points for not flipping out like Mac and Danny, but chocolate is never amiss."

"Stella, stop flirting and hand over the chocolate," Lindsay called.

"You heard the lady."

Flack sighed and produced one more box of chocolates from his jacket. Stella smiled as she peeked inside, assorted Godiva caramels; Flack knew her well.

"Is it okay if I tell you that I'm glad none of you were seriously hurt? If it's going to cause any problems, we can just skip it."

Peyton smiled. "Don't worry, detective. We're not mad at you."

Lindsay was already into the M&M's. "We won't be mad at them in by tomorrow either."

"But you don't need to tell them that," Stella added. "It won't hurt either of them to grovel some."

Flack shook his head. "Remind me not to offend all three of you at once."

"You can stay if you want. We're watching _The Wedding Date_ next," Stella said brightly.

"Sorry, I have to be back at work shortly." Flack began backing towards the door. "I'll see you all later."

He fled from the apartment, leaving giggles in his wake. Stella settled back on the couch, reaching for the remote. "Shall we continue?"

With the movie going again, the three ladies turned back to their various forms of chocolate. By the time they went back to work, all three of them would be in much better moods. Not that they would tell Mac and Danny that. After all, who turned down free chocolate when it was offered? Besides, as sweet as they were, they had overreacted, and the sisterhood was perfectly capable of taking care of themselves.


End file.
